Tele on the way. Pickup options.

[yellowv]

Hey guys. I have a Tele on the way. I am thinking piledriver set. I want something that can go from that vintage tele sound to balls out nasty. Would the Piledrivers be the right set? Here is what i have coming.

[Lew]

I'd be interested in replies too. 

[CaptainDesslock]

Hey guys. I have a Tele on the way. I am thinking piledriver set. I want something that can go from that vintage tele sound to balls out nasty. Would the Piledrivers be the right set? Here is what i have coming.

that's a beauty, I had no idea fender made teles in olympic white

[uncle psychosis]

Beautiful guitar (prefer a classic bridge myself though)!

I have also been considering a piledriver, so I'll be interested to see what the consensus is...

[Plexi Ken]

I think that's an American Standard Tele, if so, it's Blizzard Pearl not white. I think the photo make it look more white than off-white. The photo on Fender's site is more accurate, http://www.fender.com/products//search.php?partno=0110502755

IMO modern bridges make the guitar sound less 'tele'. It's like the guitar is 2/3 Tele and 1/3 Strat, which isn't a bad thing. I have 2 teles, 1 with the traditional bridge, 1 with the modern bridge. The guitars have a different sound and also feel different.

[Ratrod]

You can't beat the old three brass saddles on a Tele, IMO.

Also, considder Blackguards.

[tomjackson]

You can't beat the old three brass saddles on a Tele, IMO.

Also, considder Blackguards.

I've just got the Glendale stainless steel set and they have serious twang, I thought they were a little too bright at first but when the strings settled in (they were ernie balls as well that I always find clangy at first) they sounded great.

I'm not sure I'd go back to brass now...

[Lew]

I've got his twangset on the way, 1 steel and 2 brass.

[Plexi Ken]

I think the 'twang' set is 1 Aluminium, 2 Brass. The 'outlaw' is 1 Steel, 2 Brass.

[99_not_out]

+1 from me on the Blackguards and brass saddles. Love the look of that Tele too! Very nice :)
The BG will do nasty with the right gain on the amp, but I would imagine not like the Piledriver does. If you value your vintage Tele sound then the BG is the way to go from what I have been told, and it does dirtier sounds too :) Would be interested to know how close to vintage Tele sound the Piledriver gets with the volume rolled off.

[yellowv]

Actually it's am MIM Standard in Arctic White. I thought about going with a vintage style bridge, but have not decided yet. I think i may keep the 6 saddle as they intonate better and though I want to keep some of that Tele twang I really don't mind going a bit more modern with the sound as evidenced by the Piledriver idea. I actually just did a Strat project and I stayed pretty vintage with that one, so this one I may opt for more nastiness as I am a metal guy anyway. I found an old Piledriver clip on here last night and it is just what I am looking for tonewise. So I think I will stick with the Piledrivers. Here is the clip i found http://www.bareknucklepickups.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?topic=10769&highlight=piledriver

[yellowv]

Well you guys talked me into it. I just ordered a Wilkinson compensated vintage style bridge with brass saddles.

[AndyR]

... vintage style bridge with brass saddles.

Good man! You know it makes sense :lol:

On the pickups, if I'd arrived earlier in the thread, I'd have been adding my voice to the Blackguards - but with your later post, I suspect Piledriver is where you need to go... (actually, if I was having my time again, I'd probably have a Piledriver set now, instead of two Blackguard sets :lol:)

[Plexi Ken]

Actually it's am MIM Standard in Arctic White.

D'oh, I see now it has the block saddles, not the bent strat type as on the Am Std